Mullins Wins at Limestone

GNCC USA

Following some of the
muddiest race conditions the series has seen in recent history, the 2013 AMSOIL
Grand National Cross Country Series experienced picture perfect weather and
track conditions on Sunday for the Dunlop Limestone 100 GNCC.

After three hours of intense battle, Charlie Mullins extended his points
lead over the field by capturing his fourth win of the season at Round 6 of the
13-race series.

The AmPro Yamaha team got off to another great start, first with securing the
$250 All Balls Racing XC1 Holeshot Award and then it was Jordan Ashburn
who grabbed the early lead. Ashburn held the lead through Lap 1 but it didn’t
take long for the Factory FMF/KTM duo of Mullins and Kailub Russell to put
themselves out front.

Just when it appeared to be a two-way battle for the win, Shenandoah
Honda/USWE-Sports.com’s Thad DuVall entered himself into the chase.
Around the halfway mark, DuVall broke up the KTM teammates, riding in the
second place position behind Russell until Mullins made the move past both
riders to reclaim the lead with two laps to go.

Whibley dropped back a few spots after claiming the XC1 holeshot, but the
defending champion kept the lead group in his sights early on. Whibley
experienced a few struggles mid-race but the Axe Man put a late-race charge on
the competition in order to earn fourth overall for the day.

Suffering from a wrist injury at the start of the season, Whibley’s Round 6
ride proved to be a big step in the recovery process as fourth place marks his
best finish of the 2013 season, in addition to the fourth place he earned at
the season opener.

RPM/KTM Team Maxxis rider Rory Mead put in a breakthrough ride in
Indiana, finishing a season-best fifth place. Mead engaged in battle with Ashburn
and Bach throughout the three hour race but was able to prevail, securing fifth
place over Carolina KTM/RidePG.com backed Chris Bach.

Ashburn dropped outside of the top five after leading the early part of the
race, finishing seventh overall for the day. XC1 rookie Adam Bonneur
bested Litz Racing Honda rider Takeshi Koikeda for eighth and Ricky Russell
rounded out the top ten.

Mullins, DuVall and Russell continued to battle all afternoon but it was the
2011 champ Mullins who pulled through in the end. Russell claimed second place,
while Duvall earned third place to further validate the West Virginia native in
the 2013 title chase.

The championship chase for the XC2 Pro Lites class became much more interesting
as defending champ Jason Thomas reclaimed the points lead in the class after
scoring valuable points with a second place finish, while F.A.R Husky’s Andrew
DeLong finished just inside the top ten despite leading the most laps of the
race.

But perhaps most of the excitement lies in KTM support rider Grant Baylor,
who secured his first career XC2 class win on Sunday. At 16-years-old, Grant is
one of only two riders who have won a pro division at such a young age, the
other being Grant’s older brother Stu.

The day began well for DeLong, as he led the first three laps of the race,
looking like a strong favorite for the race victory. DeLong eventually ran into
some issues that dropped him back to eighth place and that’s when Baylor
capitalized.

DirtWise Schools/KTM-Parts.com/Maxxis rider Jason Thomas grabbed a top
five start and began plucking away his competition early in the race.

Thomas even put himself into the lead on Lap 4 but the young gun Baylor
maintained a consistent ride to secure his first career win in the XC2 Pro Lies
division. Obermeyer Yamaha/Raines Riding University/OffroadViking.com’s Jedediah
Haines put in a season-best ride to secure third place in the XC2 division.

North Carolina’s Trevor Bollinger took the 4 Stroke A Lites class win
once again and secured the Top Amateur honors by taking sixteenth overall. The
next placing amateur was Indiana’s Mike Witkowski, finishing in twenty
second.

The 2013 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series continues June 1 and 2 with
the Wiseco John Penton GNCC. For more information on the series, visit www.gnccracing.com.